Post-op activity level

My surgery is on Monday (eek!). All summer, we've planned on going to the Camden Aquarium, but we haven't managed to get there. We're thinking about going on Friday (if I'm up for it, of course). We can go slowly and take breaks. Am I totally off base with this? Did anyone else manage to do anything similar within the first week?

I had a pretty good recovery, but I wouldn't have wanted to do that. I was an emotional wreck and still felt kind of "meh" after anesthesia and though the pain wasn't terrible (I never took narcotics) it was not "deal with the public" great at that point either.

Pain wise I would have been fine, but I was exhausted for a few weeks. I would walk my dog for about a half mile and then have to sit for a good while. I'm not sure an aquarium would have been something I'd have been up for. It's a lot of standing and walking and just sitting was tiring for me.

You're going to be tired. I went to Costco about a week after my surgery and it wiped me out. If this is something you've been looking forward to, I'd postpone so you can enjoy it properly rather than through a haze of post-op exhaustion.

Jen

Thanks! It's less that I'm really looking forward to it, and more that i have a free ticket that expires at the end of the month. My son is 20 months and won't remember it anyway. We'll save it for next summer.

Aw, bummer to let a free ticket go. Anesthesia takes more out of you than you think it will. I'd say it took me a good six weeks before I felt like I was back to normal.

Jen

This would have been pushing it for me. While pain wasn't an issue, I was very tired.

I didn't have any pain issues, but on day 5, I was just kind of "there..." other than my hourly walks. I wouldn't recommend doing anything taxing.

Surgery is a major trauma to the body. Just because it's planned doesn't make it less traumatic. You may have tons of fatigue after a small period of time. The body spends extra resources and time to heal and recover.

I could have done it. But I'd have been utterly miserable.

You'll be tired for longer than you think you will. I was still taking a nap almost 2 months after surgery.